Word: somozaism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Word of Somoza's resignation reached San José at 2:15 a.m. last Tuesday. It was a cause of quiet celebration for the junta, four of whose five members had gathered at the home of Sergio Ramirez Mercado to await the news. With victory seemingly at hand, Nicaragua's new leaders prepared to board two private planes provided by the Costa Rican government. Their triumphant entry into Managua, they announced, would take place "within 24 hours." But that...
...Managua, Urcuyo startled friend and foe alike by delivering a belligerent speech in which he vowed to complete the remaining two years of Somoza's term. On his instructions, newly appointed Guardia Commander Frederico Mejía Gonzáles ordered his troops to "redouble your efforts in the current fight...
...unexpected power play set off tremors in Washington; State Department officials feared that the tenuous relations they had established with the junta would be destroyed if the transition did not take place on schedule. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who suspected that Urcuyo would not have acted without Somoza's approval, placed an angry phone call to the ex-dictator's $1 million, nine-room waterfront mansion in Miami Beach. According to Somoza, Christopher warned that if Urcuyo could not be persuaded to step down immediately, Somoza would no longer be welcome in the U.S. Chastened...
...then, Urcuyo had doubtless realized that his scheme had been a big mistake. Abandoned by the leader whose cause they had supported for so long, the national guard began to disintegrate. In a matter of hours, every one of Somoza's pilots, who had mercilessly bombed and strafed the barrios where the Sandinistas had their greatest support, had defected to neighboring countries. Soon Urcuyo flew to Guatemala and asked for asylum...
Safely ensconced in his Miami Beach estate, Tacho Somoza played host to a stream of reporters, blaming "Communist elements" for his ouster. Asked about his fortune, which has been estimated at up to $500 million, the dictator-in-exile allowed that he was worth about $100 million; 80% of his fortune, he claimed, had been left behind in Nicaragua. Before sailing off on a vacation to the Bahamas, Somoza said that he planned, as a private citizen, to carry on the fight against those who ousted him. "I don't feel morally defeated," he said. "I stepped down because...